Beyond Hilly Horizons by Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (snow like ashes .txt) 📕

of thin apparitions walking across the space in front of the factory. The cool breeze told her that late night had set in and her place is safer inside the house. Sylvia woke up early morning around 5 am and started to read her lessons once again.

Sylvia could watch the morning slowly peeping in with the early morning cool sun rays. The silence around her was completely different from what she experienced the night before. Sylvia could hear the beautiful songs of the song birds. The clear blue sky with clouds floating here and there made Sylvia to recite her favorite poem once again.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Sylvia could now realize how great William Wordsworth was in observing nature and brought the beauty of clouds in simple sentences. It is true; nature always helped a person to wish for the best and gave a lending hand whenever help was needed. Sylvia after brushing her teeth had her glass of milk.

Sylvia's mother asked her to bring some water from the well at the rear end of the factory. As the water level at the well had gone down, they could not pump the water. They had to use the hand pulley to draw water from the well. The water at the well was so chill even during the summer days. Sylvia took the bucket and followed her father to the well. While walking towards the well, she could feel the thin perfume of flowers that enveloped around the place. Breathing in the fresh air, she reached the well. A sudden whiff of air made her feel the fresh scent of sandal wood soap. Someone had taken bath at the well few minutes ago, and her nostrils took the fresh perfume in till it reached her heart.

Chapter 5

Sylvia’s eye brows could feel the heaviness of sleep. With a yawn, she closed the romance novel written by Barbara Cartland, which she took from the library. With a stretch, she finished reading the novel. Her heart brimmed with subtle thoughts on love, and she started to scribble down the lines with ease.

Punch my heart to dream, to dream about your dreaming eyes.
Those eyes of you, reminds me of hazel nuts -
a squirrel carries away
in the woods of fairy tales
and hide in places unknown.
Could you be my Prince of Charms…
and not a Prince of Love.
A Prince of heart felt dreams,
You hold the strings of a silver chariot
that adorns the smile on your face.
Smile! Smile! Smile! Smile!
Let it reflect on your hazel eyes.

Sylvia read the poem during the leisure hour at the college. The girls giggled for a while and started to laugh aloud.

‘Too much, Sylvia, it is too much,’ one of her friends commented with a smile.

‘Ya, you want to have Prince of Charms, but he is not for you.’ Another one joined her.

‘Shut up,’ Sylvia replied back. ‘I don’t want Prince of Charms.’

‘Why, so….’ Every one yelled back. Some of the girls who sat under the nearby trees turned around and looked at them. Every time they sit together under a tree during leisure time, even the crows hesitated to perch on the branches. Their laughter frightened them and chased them away from the trees. Sylvia’s interest for writing poems grew day by day. She started to write with an excuse that she is writing for her friends.

Her love for poetry became intense when she won the first prize in the poetry recitation competition. She chose the poem, ‘The Quest’ written by Sarojini Naidu. She started to recite the poem in a normal tone. But, her longing for Lord Krishna as her eternal lover, reflected in the tone as she recited the last two lines of the poem. Her friends clapped in cheer and appreciated her.

I am of thee as thou of me a part
Look for me in the mirror of thy heart
(The Quest by Sarojini Naidu)

Tears welled up in her eyes and she could feel the presence of Lord Krishna by her side.

Chapter 6

Sylvia loved Sundays. Every Sunday, her mother planned a different breakfast from the usual idlis and dosas. Her mother would pour water to the remaining cooked rice at night. Overnight, the cooked rice will be left to soak in water. In the morning, the rice mixed with curd turned out to be a delicious breakfast. Her mother served this delicious breakfast with fried onions.

Sylvia would cut the small sized sambar onions into small pieces. Two or more green chillies were also cut into pieces. Both the sambar onions and the green chillies were deep fried in little oil with salt to taste and a pinch of turmeric powder. This sambar onion fry along with the curd rice was a perfect combination. Sylvia always looked forward to Sundays to have this delicious breakfast.

After the breakfast, she would go and pluck the leaves from the drumstick tree that grew near the well. Sylvia always helped her mother to separate the leaves from the twigs and prepared the green drumstick leaves simple fry. The tender drumstick leaves were friend with small sambar onions and green chillies. Sylvia always loved to eat this fry hot from the frying pan.

Every Sunday, Sylvia loved to go for her bicycle rides. After two o’ clock in the afternoon, every one will be having their afternoon nap. Sylvia’s siblings will be doing whatever they wanted, and Sylvia would go for her bicycle ride in the main road before her house. The road will be empty without any buses, cars or scooters. Though, it was hot and the sun scorched her skin, Sylvia loved her rides. The big pond on the other side of the road looked beautiful in the afternoon sunlight. Ripples of waves formed on the surface of the water made her feel excited and happy.

One of her friends at the college asked her if she could accompany her to Sirumalai hills. Her friend’s sister was working as a botany teacher in the local school. Along with the students, she was going to Sirumalai hills for a field visit. Field visits were organized for collecting specimens and collect different kinds and species of plants. Sylvia immediately agreed to her request.

Sirumalai hills were 20 km away from her town. Every day she could see the hilly horizons from her house. She could sometimes see forest fires in the hills. It would start as a flicker and spread across for miles. Sylvia was happy when she got the chance to visit the place which she had been longing to see. The bus took them through many hair pin bends.

Young girls who accompanied them were excited and shouted with joy. While they were climbing up the hill, Sylvia could see wild goats that roamed around and crossed the road. It was not too cold and the warm sun shine helped them to start their trekking with a cheer. One of the persons who lived there volunteered to accompany them to the areas where the students can collect botanical specimens. They walked through paths of red soil. Wild rose plants bloomed all the way. Each plant grew more that five feet and was fully covered with different colored wild roses.

Sylvia could see tall trees full of gooseberries. Sirumalai hills are always famous for their bananas. They went around coffee plantations and people there warned them not to go to certain places where wild dogs roamed and it was dangerous to escape from a wild dog. After collecting the botanical specimens, they sat in a place and had their packed lunch. The water at Sirumalai hills tasted sweet and Sylvia longed to be there forever. 

 

Chapter 7

The days went on. After graduation, Sylvia stayed at home. Her mother allowed her to continue her post graduation by distance education. Sylvia had plenty of time at hand and she started to enjoy her stay at home. After helping her mother in household work, she spent the afternoon writing poems.

Sylvia loved to sit in the cool shade of the pomegranate tree and scribble away whatever that came to her mind. Sometimes little honey birds which measured less than the height of her thumb would sit in the thin branches of pomegranate tree and chirped loudly. Little sparrows flew here and there twittering sweet nothings. It was always a fun to watch pairs of mynahs hopping around the guava tree and search for insects.

Where are those thoughts which would link you with me!
Where are those dreams which would link you with me!
Where is the link which would link you with me!
where are those twilight rays far above the bright horizon which would link you with me!
The link which linked you with me
Has it lost its identity?
Every hour dies that link and resurrects itself in another -
A link with the nature's link
may strengthen your link with me
for that link lingers for ever.

One night while Sylvia sat reading through a novel, she heard owls screeching loudly. Sylvia felt some sort of nervousness in the screech of the owls. Sylvia could hear the flutter of the wings of the owls.
Putting down the book on the chair, Sylvia walked and stood near the outer entrance of her house. Sylvia’s cousin brother was riding his cycle. There were no one at the factory and darkness engulfed everywhere. It was even scary to look at the tree tops.

‘Come here’ she called her cousin brother. Her cousin brother came fast in his cycle and stopped near her. Sylvia with her two hands clutched the hand bar of the cycle. Yet, the front tire of the cycle hit her right toe. Sylvia did not feel anything at that time. The next day morning Sylvia felt something odd on her right toe. The right toe nail was dead and she could feel the pain on the right toe.

Chapter 8

Next day Sylvia’s father took her to their family doctor. After examining her right toe, the doctor told her that the nail got jammed under the bike tire and it was dead. He also told her that it would be a risk to remove the nail as it could affect the nerves and would also bleed heavily. He prescribed some pain killers along with the antibiotics. For the next ten days, Sylvia could not walk properly and she had to give up cycling also. She would sit in the chair under the shades of the tree and watched people working in the factory. The wound started to heal and there was no pain on the right toe. Yet, she could not move normal. She could not keep her right leg down.

The doctor prescribed her one more course of antibiotics. After taking the second course of antibiotics, the nail which was dead got separated from the toe and fell down. New nail started to grow. The next problem started for her. The second course of antibiotics had affected the tender lining walls of her stomach, and she started to feel a sort of restlessness and pain in her upper stomach. Sylvia started to experience the pangs of peptic ulcer. The next four years were a night mare for her. Her entire life